Capital Cities, Aloe Blacc Take Over Beck's Beer Bottles
24 Jun 2014 --- Beck's Beer announced that indie pop sensation Capital Cities and singer/songwriter/rapper Aloe Blacc, as well as six additional artists, will collectively take over millions of Beck's beer bottle labels beginning July 1, 2014.
In addition to Capital Cities and Aloe Blacc, 2014 participants include:
- Latin Grammy-winning Puerto Rican singer/composer Luis Fonsi;
- Club sensation DJ Irie;
- Miami-based visual artist TYPOE;
- Neo-rave and tribal music artist Maluca Mala;
- LA-based renegade gardener Ron Finley; and
- Surrealist artist Camille Rose Garcia.
"Live Beyond Labels participants tend to be drawn to the idea of reaching millions of people in an entirely new way," said Ryan Garcia, vice president, regional marketing. "The size of their audience and their creative focus differs from artist to artist. But they all share an independent streak, a fearlessness Beck's admires."
Every year for the past 27 years, Beck's Beer commissions original artwork for the summer-long Live Beyond Labels series. The brand replaces its traditional labels with the original designs from both emerging and established artists.
Throughout the life of the program, Beck's labels have showcased original designs from a range of creative celebrities, including Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Yoko Ono, MIA and Kid Cudi. The program began in the UK and moved to the US in 2012.
One reason for the program's popularity is its disruptiveness. Beer drinkers do not traditionally find original artwork on the side of a bottle of beer, let alone designs created by musicians, DJs and "guerilla gardeners." In its history, the program has placed original art on more than 500 million bottles of Beck's beer.
The 2014 roster of participants includes musicians, a DJ, a visual artist, a renegade gardener and a lowbrow artist:
- Capital Cities is an American indie pop band based in Los Angeles. Formed by Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian, Capital Cities released their debut EP in 2011. This summer, Capital Cities will tour with Katy Perry.
- Aloe Blacc is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and musician. Blacc co-wrote and performed the smash hit single "Wake Me Up" with Swedish DJ Avicii. His newest album, "Lift Your Spirits," was created in partnership with producers including Pharrell Williams, DJ Khalil and Rock Mafia. He is now on tour with Bruno Mars.
- Luis Fonsi is a Puerto Rican pop singer and composer. Since debuting in 1998, Fonsi has won a Latin Grammy and been named by Billboard magazine as a "Leader of Latin Music's New Generation." His latest album, "8," was described by Billboard as a "cohesive package of truly great pop songs."
- DJ Irie is a Miami-based DJ. Dubbed the "King of the South Florida party scene," Irie is the official DJ of the Miami Heat and an in-demand touring DJ.
- TYPOE is a visual artist and a mainstay in Miami's thriving art scene. He is represented by Spinello Projects and is co-founder of project space PRIMARY.
- Maluca Mala is a Dominican musician based in New York City. Mala's music is described as Latin-dance, tropical punk hip-hop and ghetto techno. Raised in Manhattan's Washington Heights, Mala performs a "decadent mix" of musical styles, according to the New York Times.
- Ron Finley is a creative phenomenon on a quest to conquer the world, one garden at a time. Armed with a shovel, some soil and seeds, Ron Finley has come to be known as the "renegade gardener," and his unexpected tactics have made him one of L.A.'s most widely known activists.
- Camille Rose Garcia is a Los Angeles based artist who creates colorful surrealist fairy-tale paintings about failed utopias and the relationship to the natural world.
Live Beyond Labels is intended to celebrate the fact that design is everywhere. The program intends to transform the traditional into the exceptional, by giving creative people an opportunity to treat millions of Beck's beer bottles as a non-traditional artistic canvas.
